University Mourns the Loss of Longtime Benefactor Bill Booziotis

Bill Booziotis, longtime supporter of UT Dallas, has died at the age of 80.

Booziotis received a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture in 1957 and a master's from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1960. He served as a life member of the UTSOA advisory council, beginning in 1966, and was its chair twice, most recently from 2012 to 2014. Booziotis was a renowned architect and founder of Booziotis & Company Architects. His clients ranged from Texas Instruments to the Dallas Museum of Art and the Communities Foundation of Texas.

For the last several years, Booziotis has supported several University initiatives, and in April he was recognized with the Gifford K. Johnson Community Leadership Award for his level of service and dedication to the University.

“Bill Booziotis was a tremendous friend of and advocate for UT Dallas,” said Dr. Hobson Wildenthal, president ad interim. “His generosity helped advance our neuroscience research areas and his outreach garnered more attention for those efforts — and for the University — from members of the community. I am so glad that we were able to recognize his many contributions last month with the Gifford Johnson award.”

Wildenthal also added: “Personally, I have lost an irreplaceable friend. I first became well acquainted with Bill about the year 2000, when he, as the architect, designed and supervised the renovations of floors 1, 2 and 4 of McDermott Library.  Working with him and Mrs. McDermott on the total redo of the McDermott Suite was the beginning of a friendship that I valued deeply and enjoyed greatly through all of the intervening years. 

“While we worked on some additional projects later, such as his ingenious designs of the rooms housing the Calatrava Table and the Eugene McDermott Book Collection, most of our interactions since then were as friends, not colleagues,” Wildenthal said. “Bill was the perfect advisor, companion and host. I admired his talent, benefited from his wisdom and vast experience, treasured his good humor and his proactive joy in living, and was immensely grateful for his constant support and friendship.”

Inspired by brain research at UT Dallas’ Center for Vital Longevity (CVL), Booziotis and his late wife, Jean, aimed to bring more recognition to the center's efforts. The couple established the Jean and Bill Booziotis Opportunity Fund for the Center for Vital Longevity to aid the efforts of a group of distinguished cognitive neuroscientists.

They also created the Jean and Bill Booziotis Distinguished Lecture Series, which launched in 2014.

“Bill was a person of remarkable intellect, generosity and warmth. He had great wisdom combined with an unexpected irreverence that was delightful,” said Dr. Denise Park, director of research at the Center for Vital Longevity and Distinguished University Chair in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. “His management of his illness was heroic. He brought goodness to my work and my life.”

Booziotis was also involved in numerous capacities at UT Dallas, serving on boards, advisory councils and supporting research initiatives.

In addition to serving on the CVL Advisory Council, Booziotis was a longtime member of the Director’s Research Circle at CVL. He also was a member of the UT Dallas Development Board, the University Campaign Council and the University’s Legacy Society.

“Bill was one of the CVL’s staunchest and most generous supporters, and advocated tirelessly on our behalf,” said Dr. Michael Rugg, director of the Center for Vital Longevity and Distinguished Chair in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. “He was also a wonderful friend whose advice and guidance were inestimable. He will be sorely missed.”